7 Surefire Lead Generation Tricks to Boost Online Sales

How powerful is your online lead generation strategy, and how are you going to improve it?

If you have these two prime concerns, I have tried hard to specifically address them in this post.

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Ever since businesses have adapted to the digital landscape, the whole marketplace has acquired a new form – competition and possibilities have risen in equal proportions. This means if you are competitive enough and prompt in action, you will make most of the opportunities. To this effect, online lead generation has become a vital sales strategy and businesses are adopting advanced and efficient methods to do so. The idea is to tap this very huge global market using creative strategies. So why should you lag behind when opportunity and techniques are available at your doorstep?

Here are seven tricks for generating quality leads

1. Use Social Media To Your Advantage

At a time when social media has become indispensable and increasingly being flooded by more and more people, it is a rather a perfect place to find your target audiences and turn them into new sales leads. According to a study by Quick Sprout, Twitter accounts for 82% of all social leads while 40% of marketers put their faith on Facebook for business marketing. The study clearly shows “lead to close” chances are much higher on social media than outbound marketing. Another report by Global Digital Statistics, social media is a very powerful channel for engaging and connecting with your audiences simply because it has a strong influence on consumers’ buying behaviors.

On social media, lead generation is not exactly selling your product, but rather it is more like gathering important information about your prospects. For example, what they are interested in; which products you could potentially sell to them; what their pain pints are; and how can you eventually turn them into paying customers. This is one right approach for lead generation. Besides Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn can also be a great way to find potential customers. So join groups that are most relevant to your business, or where you are most likely to find people interested in your product or service. YouTube videos are also in trend these days; informative videos are therefore a compelling way of lead generation.

2. SEO, SEM and PPC

SEO, SEM and PPC are among the best lead generation strategies, especially for IT and B2B companies. So in order to capture the attention of your target audience, you need to increase the effectiveness of your SEM and PPC campaigns. With the help of SEO you make sure that your website or business shows up in Google search results ahead of your competitors. Although you may pay Google or any search engine to feature on top of the search results, but a powerful SEO organically places your website at the top because you are natural fit for the search.

Pay-per- click (PPC), on the other hand, has become a highly effective tool for lead generation due to its customizability, flexibility and affordability. PPC allows you to appear on page one, and be in front of the people that are searching for what you provide right NOW. It is effective because you are paying to be available to people who NEED you and not spending money on your ads to be shown to everyone.

3. Lead Generation Through Email Marketing

Email lead generation is still considered the main workhorse of the industry. According to a report, 72% of all the adults in the United States prefer emails a key means for communication. Another research from Experian reveals an astounding stat – $1 invested in email marketing initiatives yields roughly $44.25 return for marketers. To begin with email marketing, you have to understand how to engage with thousands of individuals who are at different stages of buying cycle.

Emailing is an efficient and flexible medium that provides you access to any number of prospects, but it is also important to approach them in a timely, yet non-invasive manner. Direct emails can be used for various purposes such as selling products or services, generating leads, follow-up, or keeping in touch with customers. Thus reaching the right audience with right message along with a right offer is the key to a successful email lead generation campaign. The most important elements of a powerful email campaign are – an impressive subject line, concise and engaging, good use of imagery, social integration, and Call-to- action (CTA).

4. Target Leads Through Content Marketing

Content marketing has a huge potential for lead generation because there is a great demand from users for high-value content. So if you are able to meet that need, you will gain credibility and your will trust you. This trust is what will be your potent weapon for lead generation. According to WebDAM’s recent statistics, consistent blogging has helped B2B marketers generate 67% more leads than marketers who don’t. For that to happen, you must first be clear on which types of contents yield results, and which do not. The following types of content marketing strategies will help you massively in lead generation:

Do extensive research and in-depth market analysis of the education that you want to impart to your audience.

Use valuable resources that help solve your visitors’ problems.

Write more consumer case studies

Present white papers and e-books

Study successful content headlines

Upgrade your content with targeted opt-in forms

Target long-tail keywords

In order to convert your visitors into subscribers through email marketing, you can use many tools and software like Optinmonster, Mailchimp, Getresponse etc. These tools help you perform many functions such as advanced page level targeting, personalized messaging, dynamic text replacement, and website platforms & email integrations.

5. Use Referrals/Word-Of-Mouth

The manner in which you communicate with your audience can become a deciding factor between generating more leads and losing business. Referrals therefore are an effective means to generate repeat business. Using a comprehensive referral strategy is a passive and low-cost lead generation tool for your business. A great example of an effective referral strategy is this: “If you’re happy with our service, please tell a friend. If you’re not, please tell us”. By using such a strategy, you are benefiting in two ways. One, your customers are promoting your business in their own sphere that can have a cascading effect. Second, you are asking for their feedback even if they are not satisfied, which in turn is extremely important in bringing improvement in your product or service. According to a report by Neilson, 77% of consumers are more likely to buy a new product when learning about it from friends or family. What you need to do is be diligent and proactive until your referral system is up and running.

6. Create Awesome Landing Pages

Landing pages that are created for online lead generation are vital for your business. Acquiring new contacts from lead generating landing pages is very important for you to convince your prospects to convert. Most landing pages don’t perform well, while others are capable of doing much more. The primary purpose of using landing pages is to collect useful information of your customers so that later you can market your products or services to them. While creating a good landing page, you should keep in mind that the chief source of most leads is still search. Also, to increase the chance of a lead finding your landing page in the first place, you have to optimize it. For optimizing your landing page, you need to keep its title short; keep it keyword centric; and use long-tail format. Use more social share buttons for social media engagements and introduce CTAs.

7. Webinars, Live Chats And Hangouts

Webinars and live chats are increasingly becoming key tactics for boosting website conversation and lead generation. These have proven to be successful as well as cost-effective. Live chats reduce visitors’ wait times and improve customer experience, while increasing advertisement exposure. By having a higher dwell time among your visitors, you can improve your website’s rank in search engines, which means attracting new customers and bringing in more leads. As far as webinars are concerned, you have to choose a relevant topic (mostly related to latest trends) for your audience and invite them partners to join the online discussion. Content-rich webinars help you establish your trust and credibility, which means more chances of capturing high-quality leads. You can also create a Google Hangout regarding a topic that connects with the needs of your target audience.

Conclusion

Online lead generation is in trend. With the advent of social media and online B2C and B2B interaction, there are numerous possibilities for boosting sales. There is a long list of potential lead generation techniques that you can use for your business, but these are bound by your skills and creativity as well. I mentioned some of those techniques that could comprehensively help you.

Published by Carol Combs

Carol Combs has been in the fashion industry for over many years. A mother of one, latest vogue and fashion trends keep her living hale and hearty. She aims to impart herself knowledge and experience to refine the look of womenfolk to look better than ever. View more posts